Continuous rainfall is the subject matter of our conversations. We could do with some warmer sunny days to cheer our mood. Just the brief spells of sun we had over the weekend had a buoyant effect on the people I chatted with.
With heavy rain comes greater use of storm overflows. These are release valves that safeguard our sewer system from being overwhelmed. Given the data published last week relating to how often these ‘spills’ occurred into rivers and the sea, I thought it would be helpful to reflect why the storm overflows are needed and what has been done to reduce their use.
The 2021 Environment Act, requires all outlets to be monitored (100% of all outlets compared to just 7% in 2010). This monitoring is giving us the data that we are all now so aware of. Storm overflows are not new, we just did not know until recently how often they were utilised. I’ve supported legislation that makes it legally-binding for water treatment companies to phase out the use of storm overflows. Some argue that they should be banned immediately. This would result in sewer systems backing up into our homes - something I would never support. In fact, for some householders who have private septic tanks this is a reality (treatment plants restrict the companies that empty tanks from taking the contents to treatment works during heavy rain periods to reduce the pressure on their systems). Under legislation, water treatment companies have strict rules permitting the discharge of foul water into the sea. The Environment Act allows for unlimited fines and the freezing of dividend payments to shareholders if the permit is breached. I believe adequate legislation is now in place (under a Conservative Government) to bring to an end the discharge of foul water. However, attention must be given to how we manage demand on the sewer system. For example, there is an obligation on water companies to connect new homes to the existing system - greater care is needed to determine whether there is an alternative method of dealing with the waste.
Also, greater effort is needed to reduce the amount that already goes into the sewer system - reducing water use is an immediate and positive way to reduce pressure on sewers. Finally, more must be done to reduce the amount of surface water from fields, roads and rooftops from entering the sewer system. Some would want you to believe the situation is significantly worse than it actually is - figures published for 2023 regarding the quality of bathing waters state that 96% of waters in England met the minimum standard, 90% were rated at good or excellent, up from 76% in 2010. Furthermore, classification standards have become much stricter under the Conservatives. And, during the time I’ve been an MP, I’ve worked with SWW to help secure £44m of SWW investment to upgrade the drains and water supply, increase capacity of the system and reduce leaks and unintended discharges into rivers and the sea.
